The European Power Exchange EPEX SPOT and the Transmission System Operator Swissgrid AG started cooperating with the aim to be ready to launch day-ahead market coupling projects in cooperation with other neighboring Transmission System Operators (TSOs). The partnership is based upon the Price Coupling of Regions (PCR), which was chosen as the market coupling solution for the integration of the European electricity market. It is therefore … [Read more...]
Peak Coal in China – or long, high plateau?
Recent reports predicting a "peak" in Chinese coal power consumption are misleading, Armond Cohen and Kexin Liu of the Clean Air Task Force (CAFT) point out. The amount of Chinese coal-fired power generation will "continue to skyrocket". The same goes for other parts of Southeast Asia. The only way to prevent climate disaster is by scaling up carbon capture and storage (CCS). (Photo from Shanxi province by Bert van Dijk) … [Read more...]
“France’s fracking ban to remain for foreseeable future”
The decision to uphold the ban on hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’) in France by the constitutional court, preventing further exploration activities for shale gas reserves, is unlikely to change in the near future, despite the warnings of advocates that France will miss out on a significant source of cheap energy, says a new report from research and consulting firm GlobalData. According to the company’s latest report, France Upstream Fiscal … [Read more...]
VIDEO: 2030 Climate & Energy – Will Europe have the courage to fix its climate & energy tools?
Sonja van Renssen, leading environment journalist at viEUws.eu, gives an insight into the EU’s progress on reducing green house gas emissions in order to tackle climate change and an outlook on the debate on reduction targets for 2030 coming up next year. … [Read more...]
Top climate scientists call on environmentalists to support nuclear
In an open letter addressed to "those influencing environmental policy but opposed to nuclear power", four top climate scientists in the US have called on world leaders and environmental activists to support the developmnet of nuclear power to protect the climate. The scientists are James Hansen, Ken Caldeira, Kerry Emanuel and Tom Wigley. Here is their letter, published by CNN: "As climate and energy scientists concerned with global climate … [Read more...]
How renewables will transform commercial and (geo)political relations
The role that renewable energy could play in changing the balance of power in the world is often overlooked. Rick Bosman of the Dutch Research Institute for Transitions (DRIFT) in Rotterdam and Daniel Scholten, Assistant Professor at Delft University of Technology, undertake a thought experiment with stunning implications for future consumer-producer relations. Must reading for energy market and political strategists. (Illustration Tjebbe van … [Read more...]
EU Commission: feed-in tariffs should be abandoned
The European Commission has presented a Communication which gives guidance to Member States on “how to make the most of public interventions” in the electricity market. The Communication discusses “how to reform existing” interventions, especially renewable energy subsidy schemes, and how to effectively design new ones, especially for back-up capacity schemes." The Commission notes that “in some very specific cases public intervention might be … [Read more...]
EU Court upholds primary importance of internal energy market
In its first ruling on mandatory unbundling, the European Court of Justice has deemed this principle so vital to the internal market that it supersedes fundamental freedoms enshrined in the EU Treaties, such as free movement of capital. It is a victory of public interest over pure economics. The ruling in the case of the Netherlands vs. three energy companies comes on the eve of fresh EU guidance intended to better align the state interventions … [Read more...]
IEA: energy efficiency the world’s first fuel
The scale of global investment in energy efficiency and its contribution to energy demand are as significant as those of other developed supply-side resources, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said as it has unveiled a new report that for the first time describes the wide range of energy efficiency activities worldwide in market terms. The inaugural Energy Efficiency Market Report joins the IEA market reports for oil, gas, coal and … [Read more...]
North Africa and Middle East to double renewable energy capacity by 2015
The capacity of renewable energy in the Middle East and North Africa will nearly double from 1.7 gigawatts (GW) today to 3.3 GW by 2015. This is shown by research from Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII). Morocco plays a leading role in expanding the currently capacity, around 0.6 GW, to 1.7 GW by 2015. "North Africa and the Middle East are at the beginning of an impressive energy transition based on wind and sun. I am particularly pleased … [Read more...]
PWC study: Economies generate growth thanks to decarbonisation
New research by PwC, using historical data from five EU member states, shows that countries can decarbonise at faster than average rates without reducing economic growth or losing competitiveness while still generating new sources of economic growth and jobs. This is the conclusion based on analysis of the long-term economic impact of energy policies in five European countries (Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom) … [Read more...]
VIDEO: Brussels Briefing on Energy – State Aid and more
In this latest Brussels Briefing on Energy for viEUws - the EU Policy Broadcaster, leading journalist Hughes Belin provides an overview of the the European Union’s most pressing energy issues: State intervention in the energy sector Unbundling of the electricity and gas distribution European Commission’s list of energy infrastructure projects Energy Efficiency Directive … [Read more...]
Crowdfunding renewables: game-changer for the energy sector?
Crowdfunding of renewable energy projects is growing fast in Europe. If this grassroots movement gets organized in time to access the big money available in the next round of cohesion funding, it could have far reaching effects on the European energy sector. … [Read more...]
EU renewables sector fears for future subsidies
Brussels wants both a single European energy market and 20% renewables in the energy mix by 2020. The latter goal, however, risks disrupting the former. The Commission must resolve this tension in new state aid guidelines for energy for 2014-2020. The renewables sector warns that the conditions the Commission is currently considering threaten the renewable energy sector. (Photo: uSwitch) … [Read more...]
Getting electric cars on the road: it’s the price, stupid!
A lot of arguments are put foward of why consumers would not want to buy electric vehicles, such as “range anxiety” or worries about lack of infrastruture. But according to Eduardo Avendaño of cleantech startup Ozone Drive, there is only one thing that really matters in the end: the price. Both policymakers and industry should focus on bringing down the sales price of electric cars. This is all the more important as government subsidies for … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 187
- 188
- 189
- 190
- 191
- …
- 195
- Next Page »